Title

Heart of Glass - Blenko Glass

Blenko Glass is a West Virginia treasure that spans generations. Nothing symbolizes the state of West Virginia better or more beautifully than Blenko Glass. We will discuss current and former craftsmen and designers and how important it is that Blenko and West Virginia glass be appreciated and valued by the younger generation.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Blenko Glass


Hilary


I did the google search for Blenko and blenko collectors. Three or four pages pop up

the obvious is blenko glass company and the blenko glass collectors after this I was totally confused, facebook, twitter, people selling glass, museums w/o walls, and more people interconnected and selling glass. Do I believe and read fromthe sellers pages or do I look for referencesw?


Even Wiki seems polluted with info from sellers. Very little factual, most a PR piece for

a seller.


Does Blenko own the name Blenko? Is anyone responsbile for their image on line?


Who do I trust? Where do I go?


I am now buying from Ebay and Etsy and only items listed in the catalogs I own.


It would help if you gave us more direction.


Connie Faulknier


Connie,

Check out the West Virginia Museum of American Glass, http://www.magwv.com/ . If you live close enough for a trip to Weston I would recommend visiting the museum.

Many sellers of Blenko are also collectors and their knowledge varies, members of the Blenko Collectors Society also have a good base of knowledge and many sold and still sell Blenko.

As with any hobby, people often start selling in an effort to improve their collection, or as their knowledge becomes more refined.

I'm a dentist, I have no expertise in glass making, or identification of glass. As a public service to blog readers, we do attempt to assist with identification as a group. Value of Blenko is subjective often the Pina book is used as a guide.

Continue to be cautious, read everything, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true. There are a good number of Blenko myths and Blenko experts, long ago

Steve Bair a Charleston collector told me to buy only what I loved, then I would never be disappointed. Buy glass that you like and want to live with. Then if the value increases you'll be delighted, if it doesn't you won't mind.

I don't have an answer for your question about Blenko's name and who protects the name or image but I am forwarding the question to Mr. Walter Blenko the President of Blenko.

Thank you for writing and continue to buy Blenko Glass. If you live near enough to visit the

Blenko Gift Shop, buy new glass. When you purchase new glass from the factory you make a direct contribution to the well being of Blenko Glass. Another plus is the gift shop has a wide

variety of glass and often you'll find older items that may have been lost in storage for a few

years.

Shop Blenko Glass http://www.blenkoglass.com/ Milton, WV.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

As newbies we all buy inferior glass. Buying from a collector may or may not mean the glass is good, Blenko or high quality.
Education is the key.
Buy the books, read everything you can find on line and off line.
Visit quality glass, speak with collectors. Keep an eye and 2 ears open, move slowly and open your wallet only after you read and research.
Buy the best quality you can afford.
Don't buy just to have a warehouse, create a collection.
I didn't always follow these suggestions.
Lisa S.

Anonymous said...

BUY NEW GLASS AND THIS WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE.
F THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY ONLY VINTAGE IS PURE. I HAVE BLENKO AND VIKING FROM THE 60s WITH MAJOR FLAWS.
IT S CALL ART GLASS FOR A REASON.
MOUNTAIN RITA

Anonymous said...

Hilary
Do you hear from Rick Blenko, Rodney Wade, Gene Weekly, or Don Lemly?
I was just wondering how they are.
We didn't know Mr. Weekly very well but felt the others were our blenko friends, and we liked gene weekly 's gentle behavior at the BCS. Lemly was always kind, Wade seem to know a lot and was helpful, and Rick well, we felt like he was one of our children.
Carolyn

Anonymous said...

Bichoff closed due to poor management.
This was closed long before we moved to Kanawha Clay county line.
Bud

Anonymous said...

One Door Closes..Another Opens

Hilary I received this 2 weeks ago in an email and again today.
Very appropriate for Blenko don't ya think.
Blenko blenko blenko

Revelations 3:8

When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly!

Anonymous said...

Comment re: Rider Weekly Lemly
et al.
All are good glassmen and like Osburn they could each go it alone.
Or go out of state to find real work with good wages in the glass industry.
Weekly was an engineer for god sake he could find a job in a split second. So don't worry for these men, worry for the place that is sorely missing their skills.
Larry

Anonymous said...

blenko blenko
hillary I read this
and thought of you.
you must take a lot of b vitamins as your brain is incredible,
when I was your age all I wanted to do was drink and dance.
What other vitamins do you take
that make you focus intensely on multiple task?
Sol
Reuters reports:

"[Researchers] conducted a two-year trial with 168 volunteers with MCI who were given either a vitamin pill containing very high doses of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, or a placebo dummy pill ...


[O]n average the brains of those taking the vitamin treatment shrank at a rate of 0.76 percent a year, while those taking the dummy pill had an average brain shrinkage of 1.08 percent

Anonymous said...

Katie is woman enough to replace all these guys.
Blenko blenko
Sol

Anonymous said...

Rick Blenko will always be more than fine. The man knows the art of living, letting go and being a gentleman 24/7.
He wasted his time and energy on Blenko. Otherwise he would be a PBS film maker this man has a gift for working with people and making things happen.
He will always for those of us over 30 be Blenko. Always patient with collectors new and old.
Now we have people with less experience than our glasslady running the place.
It doesn't seem right. Blenko w/o
a Blenko in charge.
Lou

Anonymous said...

LARRY
WAKE UP SMELL THE COFFEE
NO GLASS COMPANIES IN US
ARE MAKING $$$
THE INDIANS, THE CHINESE AND THE MEXICANS ARE PRODUCING THE GLASS
EVEN GLASSDOCs BELOVED FENTON IS IMPORTING GLASS FROM OUTSIDE USA.
SAD DAYS MY FRIENDS.
WHAT I ASK IS MADE IN USA?
MOUNTAIN RITA

Anonymous said...

Glasslady
We have a non blenko glass question.
A blog or herald dispatch question if you please.
Heart of Glass is always listed last on the blog page.
Does this mean Heart of Glass has fewer readers than all the other blogs?
What can we do to help you increase your numbers? Once a month or more we mention your blog in my blog, if we can do more
please ask.
Morris

Anonymous said...

Invest in a good laptop.

Anonymous said...

Carolyn
My best guess is your four gentlemen friends are all unemployed.
Blenko was the best gig they ever had.
Lessons?
Appreciate your place of employment.
A company is larger than one or two people.
Trust no one.
Every thing changes daily in this life.
Recently heard Fenton is struggling, we plan a trip to the area in November, with the layoffs the quality and quanity of flea market glass should be
at an all time high.
Sweetdoc get your party together for a trip to Fenton, do you all collect Fenton?
Ralph S.

Anonymous said...

sol

all i can say to you is.

Are you on drugs or just clueless.

Anonymous said...

My vote is Sol is both on drugs
and clueless. Either this or he
is including Katie in his obsessional thoughts.
Lou drank too much of the koolaid
Larry is correct in a pre obama world.
Lisa has more money than brains.
Mountain Rita and Sol are roommates probably they both live near our most often silent but hilarious and on target friend Roxie.

Anonymous said...

hey ralph you guessed wrong!all except one is employed and happier than they have ever been!as far as "blanko" and i spelled it the way they are being their best gig they ever had ask them sometime or ask any old employee that has retired or quit and you might get enlightened about the best job they ever had.
by the way Mountain Rita simon pearce glass in vermont and maryland is doing great they are even working overtime on saturdays!
research a little more before you say something like that so you wont look and sound uninformed.